There are many things that forge lifelong bonds between mother and child. In the case of a British woman, the bond between her and her nine-year-old daughter was created through extended breastfeeding. Sharon Spink, a mother-of-four from Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire in Great Britain, said she nursed her youngest daughter, Charlotte, up until eight weeks ago, when she no longer yearned for “mummy milk.” According to the Daily Mail, Spink said breastfeeding her girl has created a strong bond because she has good health thanks to the milk’s nutrients. The 50-year-old mother admits she’s been criticized for breastfeeding an older child, with some believing it’s a form of child abuse.

Spink said she wants to break the stigma that surrounds the act, stating there are likely more mothers out there doing it. The woman told the Daily Mail she was set on breastfeeding Charlotte and have “natural term weaning” after having trouble doing so with her other three children: 30-year-old Kim, 28-year-old Sarah and 12-year-old Isabel. “It’s nice for the child to be in control of when they want to wean, rather than forcing the issue,” Spink told the British tabloid. “She naturally self-weaned earlier this year. It was a gradual process and her choice.” Spink told the U.K. Sun she originally set out to nurse Charlotte for a year and progress from there to see how further she wanted to continue. Her youngest daughter would often come to her bed for nighttime feeds. By the time she was five, Spink said Charlotte was breastfed three times a day. In the past four years, the frequency was reduced to once a month. The mother said she used to feed Charlotte in public, but it stopped when she was five. While those within the breastfeeding community have shown support for Spink and her efforts, the woman said there was always negative reaction too — typically from “keyboard warriors who post their opinion.” Spink said she’s convinced the bond between her and Charlotte was created through extended nursing and doesn’t think it will change because it’s stopped. She claims her daughter is healthy and seldom gets ill because breast milk helped boost Charlotte’s immune system. While she believes a lot of women are doing it, mothers are scared to admit it, which is why she wants to raise awareness about it.

“I just want to let other mums out there who are wondering ‘Should I or should I not?’ that this is normal and this is what children do,” Spink said. “If they feed for as long as they want to they will naturally wean. “In a lot of countries it’s perfectly normal to breastfeed older children and they will do it for a lot longer than we do in the west.” According to the World Health Organization, exclusive breastfeeding is recommended within a child’s first six months of life, with continued nursing supported by other foods up to age two and beyond.

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